The Denver Nuggets enter 2025-26 with more questions than they’ve had in a while — with a coaching staff and roster turning over, these are the five main things fans should be asking when they turn on the TV on Thursday or walk into Ball Arena on Saturday.

Who is David Adleman, the head coach?

What makes David Adelman different as a coach from Michael Malone? Can he take the good from Malone, which he was a part of as his right-hand man on the bench, along with cutting out the bad by adding his new ideas? Everything we’ve known about the Nuggets, their ebbs and flows from the last decade under Malone, could be out the window. Will Nikola Jokic’s rotations change? Does Denver’s defensive makeup differ? Will he have a shorter leash on the starters and vets?

We’ve already gotten hints that Adelman will be quicker to adjust both in scheme and in player utilization. That comes based on Adelman’s time on the bench and in his 20 games leading the Nuggets last spring. But there will be rough patches, and Malone instilled an unreal toughness in the team. Last year, Malone started taking shots at his players, even publicly. How will Adelman communicate with his team? Will we see that difference?

There are a lot of valid questions to ask about a rookie head coach leading a team with title aspirations centered around a star over 30. There is a lot of pressure and unknown. In the same vein, Adelman earned the job and was likely more right for it than anyone else. And the Nuggets did exactly what they needed to by spending to give the coach a strong bench around him with names like Jared Dudley, J.J. Barea and Chase Buford.

How well will Jonas Valanciunas do as the backup center?

Adelman won’t be alone in having a lot of pressure living up to the role of the man in his shoes just before. Jonas Valanciunas will have to do that on a minute-to-minute basis, backing up the three-time MVP. Valanciunas is the most talented Nuggets bench big since DeMarcus Cousins and maybe since Jokic himself came off the bench. Cousins is the lone player fans wanted to see more of and left folks comfortable with Jokic actually catching his breath. Will Valanciunas live up to his past performances and keep the Nuggets from hitting the eject button to get Nikola back into the game just two minutes into the fourth quarter?

It could work out so well with big Val that the Nuggets could experiment with a jumbo lineup like they once did in the bubble, where Jokic played guard in what was the tallest starting group in NBA history until Tuesday night when the Rockets debuted their new unit. They may not start together, but against a team like Houston playing four de facto seven-footers, could the Nuggets roll out Val and Jokic together with Aaron Gordon at small forward?

Maybe even with a dash of the oversized Peyton Watson on the other wing. This lineup makes more sense when you consider that Michael Porter Jr. and Gordon split many of the normal small forward and power forward duties between each other when playing together. So instead of sizing Gordon up to play center, you may see him size down for a big lineup.

But it’s not those moments of double bigs that’s most important, it’s getting Jokic off his feet and staying competent. Just five years ago, Val scored 18 points a game for the Pelicans. And unlike most bigs, he can actually do many of the things Joker can at a lesser scale. He ranked ninth among 46 centers in assists per minute last season. His playmaking mark in his career is slightly lower. Though he’s a good passer, he’s only once averaged 2.5 or more helpers per game for a season in his career.

But that brings it back to Cousins and the Nuggets initiating offense through Val, as Adelman mentioned this offseason and also compared Val to Boogie. Cousins averaged 2.5 or more helpers per game eight times in his 11 seasons, and two of the three occasions he did it were when he was playing as a backup after his devastating Achilles injury. Cousins is undoubtedly a greater talent, but by the time he got to the Nuggets, it was almost over.

Yet Cousins has the top six and nine of the best 11 scoring outputs in any games (playoffs included) from a reserve center since Mason Plumlee left. And the rare games Jokic didn’t start — Cousins has two of just three performances where a Denver center who was not the league’s MVP cracked 15 points since the 2020-21 season began — Cousins even had a 30-ball, and Jordan is the only other to get 15 or more. This is where it’s worth pointing out that Cousins was only with the Nuggets for 36 games and hasn’t played in the NBA since — seemingly, he wasn’t welcome back because of locker room issues.

Just last season, Valanciunas scored 20 or more off the bench four times — all would be better than Cousins’ high off the bench of 19. In total, JV scored 15 or more 20 times last year — mostly as a backup to Domantas Sabonis and Alex Sarr, but across seven starts as well. From a pure scoring point of view, Adelman is on the mark. Denver has not had as talented an offensive bench big since Cousins.

Like Boogie, who was a sneaky, solid 3-point shooter, Val can let it fly too. He took about 1.5 per game over his few seasons between Memphis and New Orleans — hitting at a 35% clip. Boogie shot about 33% for his career and with the Nuggets from deep at a similar take rate.

There are a few more similarities, too. Cousins was one of the better post scorers of his era. Valanciunas can do that too; last year, he averaged 1.05 points per possession — 75th percentile in the league — when acting as a hub for his teams out of the post.

Cousins once led the NBA with a defensive rebounding rate of 31%. Nine years later, Valanciunas ranked best on the same leaderboard, with a 33% defensive rebounding rate — also leading the NBA in total rebounding rate that year. Last season, Valanciunas’ .41 rebounds per minute was best in the NBA.

While Valanciunas may not match Cousins’ peak explosiveness, the similarities are striking — and from a statistical and stylistic perspective, he could be the closest Denver has had to Jokic in a backup gig. From rebounding rates to offensive repertoire, Valanciunas can allow the Nuggets to deploy a similar strategy with their starters and bench play, unlike the radically different plans they tried to utilize with past players in this role.

This means more nights off, more minutes off, and better rested legs for Jokic both over the course of the season and within games themselves — which creates a scary proposition: we are likely to see Jokic’s most efficient season yet, and he can turn his defense up to where it was in the 2023 playoffs more often this season.

Integrating Cameron Johnson into the Nuggets lineup

The Nuggets make their biggest change to their starting lineup on Thursday since picking up Kentoious Caldwell-Pope and getting Jamal Murray back ahead of the 2022-23 season. That change is swapping out longtime Nugget for Cameron Johnson, who does have some similarities to MPJ but should offer a far more diverse offensive game.

Outside shooting is each player’s top strength. Johnson ranked in the 99th percentile last year in off-ball gravity, thanks in part to his 40.3% shooting on 5.1 3-point catch-and-shoot jumpers per game, which is judged by BBall Index and NBA.com. Porter shot 41.8% on 4.6 of those shots a contest, which is better on a lesser volume, but does not factor in that Jokic was throwing him passes. Johnson quietly finished second on the Nets in total assists last season — a sign of his underrated playmaking and the rag-tag nature of the passes the forward was getting.

Johnson, 29, stands at 6-foot-8 and averaged a career-high 18.8 points per game on 48 percent shooting from the field, 39 percent from 3-point range and 89 percent from the free-throw line in 57 games for the Nets last season. His helper numbers set a new career-high with 3.4 assists per contest as he also stacked 4.3 rebounds a game. While Johnson isn’t as rugged on the glass as Porter, he’s a better defender.

Whereas Porter was a bit more turret, Johnson is a classic sniper. He excels at shooting off screens, ranking in the 93rd percentile league-wide in off-ball shot-making. His play-type versatility will allow the Nuggets to use a similar caliber of shooter to the sharp Porter in many more ways. Johnson can even create his own deep-range shots at times.

Johnson is a good player, with many metrics suggesting he had a better season than MPJ last year. While MPJ won the title with the Nuggets in 2023, Johnson has also played in the NBA Finals. Before being dealt for Kevin Durant, Johnson was a key member of the Phoenix Suns early in his career. The 11th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft out of North Carolina proved quickly to be a plus shooter with size and some defensive skills. Johnson’s defense hasn’t been as well-regarded since the trade to Brooklyn — though the Nets haven’t really been trying to win anything for years.

Johnson played 57 games last season, missing time due to hamstring and knee issues. He’s had a few injuries in recent years, but nothing chronic — his health will be something Denver monitors. In dealing away MPJ, they actually got a player back who has been more of an injury risk lately.

But Johnson is a much better in-action defender than MPJ. Porter was pretty good as a backside rotator and used his size well in iso situations. Johnson has way better lateral quickness and can guard a pick-and-roll. His size, with Christian Braun’s ruggedness and Gordon’s strength, should make for a solid trio of defensively capable players next to Jamal Murray and Jokic. Plus, the addition of Johnson will likely allow Gordon to focus a bit more on defense since Johnson is much more of a creator than Porter, and Gordon had to take on some of that load.

Johnson’s position versatility will also help the Nuggets in solving some lineup issues they have against the Thunder in the playoffs. Their new player, like Porter, can play both the three and the four. Denver can go small or big with Johnson, and his shooting and some creation skills can let David Adleman get creative if needed when Jokic goes for a rest. Take what I said about big Val and add Johnson in as the one or two with Jokic on the floor in a super big lineup and Denver could do some pretty unique things for stretches.

Johnson will be either the third or fourth option on offense and Denver badly needed some more creation and ball skills over the last two seasons in the playoffs. Murray was attacked by both the Wolves and Thunder and Denver didn’t have many ways to release the pressure. Johnson’s IQ and off-ball movement will do more than alleviate the issues for the Nuggets; it will open up new ways for the Nuggets to generate offense.

It’s also worth noting how much more well-regarded Johnson is as a person across the NBA than Porter is. Johnson was the Nets rep for the players’ union. He’s well-spoken and is often on the Young Man and the Three Podcast. He’s been a member of Team USA in the past, and he even shares a Balkan connection with Val and Joker — his mother is Croatian American.

How much do the Nuggets starters actually play

This is the biggest thing Denver’s staff will have to weigh: building chemistry as a new group against staying rested for the ultimate goal. Maybe as tough as actually playing the historically good Thunder themselves, the second and third round of the playoffs gets a condensed schedule. The Nuggets were already gassed when they met the Thunder, and the cumulative toll during the series definitely had an impact, as did heavily relying on the starters during the games. The Nuggets ended that series with 17.5 working limbs.

It would make a lot of sense to play Nikola Jokic for 32 minutes a game over 65 contests and no more. While also heavily managing Murray, Gordon and Johnson. Depth is only good if you use it, and that’s what the Nuggets should do — rely on their newfound depth for all those November and February nights against East foes.

Will Peyton Watson or Julian Strawther leap?

The additions of Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr. are going to make the fully healthy Nuggets rotation a bit tougher to make, meaning both youngsters Watson and Strawther will have way more competition than they’ve had in the past few years.

On Watson, with no extension now, he’s in a contract year, trying to earn his second deal. He’s shown some big-time flashes of being a disruptive, athletic shot-blocking defender with some solid offensive IQ. If he worked on his shot-making and, more so, his finishing, Watson could leap and be Denver’s do-it-all sixth man who can plug and play into multiple spots. He may make the Nuggets regret not giving him a contract extension.

On Strawther, he’s been really good his first two years when he’s caught his rhythm in between injury stints. But the injuries have come at the worst time and have derailed his chances to seriously make the team’s rotation down the stretch both of his first two seasons. The team could badly use the shooting that made him so valuable at Gonzaga, and won the Nuggets Game 6 against the Thunder. With growth, Strawther could at the very least be an awesome heat check guy if not develop into a solid scoring two guard.

If either Watson or Strawther makes the leap, the Nuggets will have a strong nine-man rotation.